REK Mixes Wry Humor With Genuine Feeling

Thank heaven for Robert Earl Keen. During his long career, the Texas-born singer and songwriter has established himself as one of the best practitioners of a varient of country music known for its sly sense of humor. Like Lyle Lovett (his former neighbor at the University of Texas), Robbie Fulks, Todd Snider and John Prine, Keen has a knack for subverting earnest sentiments about young love, broken hearts and the good old days with funny, unexpected twists that he delivers with a straight face.

You can hear it in “The Little Things,” “That Bucking Song” and “Merry Christmas From the Family,” among plenty of others. Like those other writers, though, Keen also has a way with more serious, poignant songs. “The Road Goes on Forever” is wrenching in its irony, pitting the story of a hard-luck couple on a crime spree against the lyric “the party never ends,” while “Lay Down My Brother” is as genuine as they come.

That last song is from Keen’s most recent album, 2011′s “Ready for Confetti,” but his catalog is extensive enough that you can expect a mix of old and new when he performs Jan. 27 at Infinity Hall. Tickets are $59 and $79.